Night of the Soulless Heathens – 26



#26. Massacre of the Paladins 3

The wyvern quickly ran up the tree dodging the arrows and disappearing from their sight.

“If you’re a wyvern why aren’t you flying?”

“He seems like a pretty smart guy. He only flies at night.”

The wyvern with its black scales is almost invisible when it flies at night. It knows that if it flies during the day it will only attract people around it.

“Ugh. This is a headache. Even if the farmers saw the wyvern I thought they were just talking nonsense from some ignorant worm….”

In reality farmers are very boastful so when you go to see a dragon you often find crocodiles or lizardmen and when you go to see a giant you often find bugbears at best.

But this time the farmers’ eyewitness accounts matched the reality exactly.

“If there are young ones wandering around on their own that means there are already quite a few adult wyverns.”

Sir Gazrek grumbled and walked towards the direction where the wyvern had disappeared. Soon the forest ended and the outskirts of the farm appeared. There were farmers who seemed to be working on the farm lying on the ground groaning after being hit by arrows.

“….”

It seemed like the arrow shot to catch the wyvern went through the tree and ended up hitting the farmers on the farm.

“Damn it. Why is the Flow Arrow so powerful?”

When you shoot with the intention of killing someone you often see them run away without dying even after firing ten arrows but with an arrow shot accidentally like this a person dies with one shot.

As Gazrek the Elder was staring blankly at the sight the apprentice knights followed behind and also discovered the same sight.

“omg?!”

“uh?”

“Oh my. Damn it!”

“Eight thrones…..”

The apprentice knights also realized their mistake and were shocked. Lord Gazrek sighed deeply and looked around.

“Ugh….”

“Please spare our lives. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

One farmer was killed by an arrow and the other two lay wounded. When they saw the knights they clapped their hands and begged.

“What should we do Sir Gazrek?”

‘Is this kid so clueless? Why is he calling my name here and now?’

Sir Gazrek inwardly felt annoyed and pointed his chin at Tashig who had called his name.

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“It’s a social thing. Cut off the airway Tashig.”

“yes?”

“What would farmers be doing in this forest? To socialize.”

When Lord Gazrek said this an invisible shock spread through the trainees. However Tasig who had been ordered to kill quickly understood the situation and took action.

“Ah! Okay that’s right. Okay I understand.”

Tashig struck down the pleading peasants with his hunting spear killing them.

“….”

The apprentices gasped for breath. Their consciences were screaming at them for killing innocent civilians. Lord Gazrek looked back at the apprentices and smiled bitterly.

“Hey everyone wake up. I’m the one who cleaned up the mess you guys made.”

“yes?”

“Who shot the arrow?”

The trainees shot.

“You shot an arrow and it hit them. You killed them.”

Sir Gazrek scolded his apprentices.

“Tell me the rules of the Knights Templar.”

“We we….”

“What happens if you kill innocent civilians?”

“It’s a hanging ceremony.”

“Do you want to be hanged?”

“Oh no. But…..”

Isn’t killing innocent people by accusing them of being cultists just covering up a crime with a crime? Besides if the trainees accidentally killed someone there was a way to repent. They had to become repentant knights.

A penitent is someone who practices penance to wash away sins. They do not receive any support from the church and must travel around the world defeating demons and helping people earning merits until they are pardoned by a bishop and must continue to wander the wilderness and sleep in a roofless place.

Among those who became penitents in this way few succeeded in their penance and were reinstated. Most became corrupt and ended up becoming highway robbers or dying on the road.

Even if the bishop is a moderate figure he would only grant the penitential license. Considering the current tendencies of the bishop of the Diocese of Salasma anyone with a humble family background would end up on the gallows.

‘Damn it. I can’t become a penitent at my age. It would ruin my daughter’s future too…’

Sir Gazrek was already hated by the upper echelons for having fathered an illegitimate child while still a paladin. If it is revealed that he killed civilians by accident he will truly become a penitent knight this time.

I don’t know if he would become a penitent on his own but it would be a burden to his daughter.

“If you understand then say that they are cultists.”

Then Tashig who was in charge of finishing the killing asked while wiping the blood from his spear.

“Aren’t there many different types of social groups? What type should we unify?”

“Do not become a follower of the Kurt clan.”

Sir Gazrek said this and looked around startled.

“….”

A pair of wooden clogs was hanging on a tree stump. Anyone who saw it could tell that it had just been taken off because the inside of the shoe was clean.

The remaining footprints of the straw shoe continued toward the farm over there.

“Oh really.”

Sir Gazrek covered his face with his hands.

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“Do you guys really want to do something like this?”

“Oh what should I do?”

“What should I do?”

Sir Gazrek counted the number of roofs on the farm.

“It looks like a barn or a cattle shed so it’s actually number 2? Three people died here…”

Sir Gazrek clicked his tongue after roughly calculating it.

“I guess I better hope there aren’t too many kids in that farm.”

“yes?”

“Let’s go you guys.”

Lord Gazrek headed to the farm with his reluctant apprentices. He was reluctant to make his own choice but he would do anything for his daughter who was his superior.

*********

Azadin lay there groaning his muscles aching.

The past week has been a series of forced marches. I have collected three of the Emperor’s gold coins which is usually difficult to collect even ten in a year.

The people knowing of the oppression of the King’s Church stockpiled the Emperor’s gold to petition the Heralds… The tribulations that have descended upon this world during the past week have made it easy for people to touch the taboo.

My body aches and hurts.

The Aragasas’ harsh training and innate talent made them seem like beings that transcended humans but they were also human.

Azadin in particular was more human than the others. Ultimately he had to pay a higher price to do similar work as the other messengers.

but….

[The mission is calling.]

The Emperor’s voice speaks.

[Only those who respond when justice calls are worthy of my message.]

“…I’ve never seen anyone like that before?”

Most of the Emperor’s messengers he had seen had not responded so enthusiastically to the call for justice. He himself considered himself too mortal to dare speak of justice but the other messengers had even less contact with justice.

It was the nature of a worldly contract. Regardless of what soul was filled in it the contract was inherited by bloodline and determined the herald clan. So what the Emperor’s voice said was wrong.

But now is not the time to point out the errors of the Emperor’s voice. If justice truly calls someone will suffer.

“Damn. I don’t have time to rest.”

Azadin woke up from his dream whipping his tired body.

Just then the farmer’s son ran into the barn.

“Please save me!”

“What’s going on?”

As Azadin came down from the second floor of the barn the chickens on the first floor were startled and flew up to avoid Azadin.

“Hmm.”

“oh my.”

Midiam and Ismail Tarki were still tossing and turning unable to wake up.

“My father was murdered! In the forest over there!”

The farmer’s son was in tears. His skin was flushed from running his body reeked of sweat and his shoes were off and in disarray.

“Murdered by what specifically?”

“It’s an arrow!”

“arrow?”

Azadin frowned.

“Whoa!”

A woman’s screams were heard outside the farm. Outside the barn a knight-errant in chainmail with the emblem of the King’s Church tattooed on his chest was stabbing a woman working in the fields with a spear.

“this!”

Azadin immediately ran over and picked up a stone from the ground. Then as he ran he coolly threw the stone with his sidearm.

-Wedge!

Stones fly away with a sharp ripping sound of wind.

Despite the fierce momentum the trainee knight pulled out the spear that had stabbed the woman and blocked the stones flying towards the spear.

-Thud!

The stone hit the beam and bounced off.

“What the heck you little brat? Are you trying to do it!”

But the trainee knight also felt a chill. Azadin’s throwing was so strong that his hands started to feel numb.

‘Tch. I just woke up and my power is gone.’

Azadin had been warned by his teacher never to throw with all his might before his shoulder loosened up.

Up until now I had been able to throw weapons with enough force to break armor and kill people without using my shoulders much just with the strength of my wrists and elbows… But as expected the knights of the King’s Church were not easy to deal with.

But he couldn’t just sit still after seeing someone killing civilians right before his eyes. Azadin dashed across the ground and leapt at the apprentice knight.

“This kid is crazy!”

The apprentice knight held the spear and tried to kill Azadin with one stab. Azadin on the other hand was currently empty-handed. His only weapon was the short dagger he had on his waist.

“Ugh!”

The apprentice’s spear briefly stabs Azadin. As he dodges the attack to the side the spear is quickly withdrawn and flies back again hissing like a viper’s tongue.

This is no ordinary skill. Furthermore even if Azadin has excellent skills with empty hands and a spear this distance difference is hopeless.

But Azadin dodged the spear’s attack like flowing water picked up a stone from the ground and threw it again.

“Where!”

The apprentice knight turned his head to the side to avoid the stone as he saw Azadin’s throwing stance.

I should have done that…

-puck!

The stone hit the apprentice knight. The stone thrown by Azadin curved in the air and entered further into the apprentice knight’s body than he had expected.

-‘The Flower Bird Wind Moon Yellow Crane Kazas style!’

This is a method of deflecting projectiles by swimming through the air instead of applying magic power but the result is similar. However smooth stones do not deflect well so if you want to change the angle a lot you need to apply mud or something sticky.

Azadin applied a lot of wax to the bow for this purpose and he succeeded in this trick by lightly rubbing the wax on the bow before throwing the stone.